


To You

by nauticalgalaxies (XvoodooXXblueX)



Category: The Unit
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-04-01 00:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3999214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XvoodooXXblueX/pseuds/nauticalgalaxies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mack and Tiffy feels set right after S04E16, Hill 60.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To You

**Author's Note:**

> I have turned into Unit trash and these two slay me and I ship EVERYTHING on this damn show. If you want even more feels while you read this, listen to Get On The Road by Tired Pony while you read. I had it on repeat while writing this. If I ever make a Mack/Tiffy Playlist that's the title song.

It was late when everything had finally quieted down and they'd been debriefed, when it was finally decided that for one night, at least, they were all better off with their families.

Mack was sitting in the living room, staring into space with a glass of scotch in front of him. After a day like this, he deserved it, he thought, though he hadn't so much as touched it yet. It wasn't that easy to shake what had happened, to forget how close the danger had encroached on his family. It didn't deserve to be that easily forgotten. 

Mack looked up as Tiffy came into the room and snuggled up to him on the couch, already in a beautiful pale silk nightgown. She tucked her legs onto the upholstery and leaned into his chest with a sigh. Mack's arms came around her instinctively, like they'd done millions of times.

"The girls are fine," Tiffy said, relief painfully apparent in her voice. "They're shaken, but the check-up turned out fine and-"

"They're here," Mack finished the sentence for her. "They're safe." Mack's hold on Tiffy tightened and she wrapped his arm around his waist.

"How do you do it?" Tiffy asked. "How do you deal with this... danger, this fear all the time without--"

"Without going insane?" Mack couldn't help but crack a wry smile.

"Oh, Tiffy, I think we both know that I don't."

Tiffy lifted her head off Mack's chest and looked up at him with a frown. Mack leaned in and kissed her briefly, as softly as he knew how. Then he leaned back into the couch and was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"When the alarm went off," Mack said, "when the kids started panicking, when you realised something was wrong, how did you do it?"

Tiffy looked at him, confused for a moment, but Mack waited for her to figure out his question and her answer.

"I don't know," she said slowly. "I just did. I knew I had to keep the kids calm and safe, more than anything. Had to stop the gas from coming in."

Mack nodded, a smile playing on his lips.

"Why?"

Tiffy shot him an annoyed look. 

"Why? Because I'm their teacher. While they're in my care, I'm responsible for them. So I..."

Mack's smile was widening and Tiffy's expression was growing ever more exasperated. She swatted at Mack's chest.

"You did what you had to," Mack supplied. "You did what you had to, to complete the mission."

Tiffy huffed.

"And that's it? Do what it takes to get the mission done. That's what gets you through?"

Mack shook his head and held Tiffy in place because he could tell she was getting annoyed with him.

"No, Tiffy," Mack said, his voice quiet and calm. He gently cupped cheek and kissed her again before she could protest.

"That's not what gets you through."

"Then what?" Tiffy demanded. "Because when I was in there, alone with a bunch of scared kids in danger of dying, when people were choking to death all around us, all I could think of was our kids. And you. And where you were, whether you were safe and if," Tiffy sniffed, tears gathering in her eyes, "if I'd ever see any of you again."

Tiffy sniffed again, and wrapped her arms around Mack, letting the tears flow into his old ratty t-shirt. He held her as she cried, wrapped securely in his arms.

"Shh...," Mack whispered, running his hands through Tiffy's hair. It used to work to calm her down. He hoped it still did.

"All I could think about was to get back to you and the girls," Tiffy sobbed.

Mack smiled sadly and kissed the crown of Tiffy's head.

"And that's how you do it," Mack said. "You hold on to the thing it is you've got to hold on to that keeps you going. What makes you want to survive."

Tiffy finally lifted her head and gazed at Mack with red eyes. Mack gently swiped at the tears on his beautiful wife's face.

"We're not so different, Tiffy," he said. "And I'm proud of you." And he was.He really, really was.

Tiffy smiled and there were more tears, but God, at least she was smiling.

"Have I ever told you I'm proud of you," she asked. There was a twitch to Mack's lips, but he didn't answer.

"Because I am," Tiffy said, flinging herself back into his arms. "I am so very, very proud of you."


End file.
